Hawks Suffer Loss In First Ever Night Game At Hazelwood Central

FLORISSANT - Too many miscues -- from bad snaps to short punts and several key missed tackles -- proved too much to overcome for Hazelwood Central in a 35-0 loss to Lafayette High, Friday night, in the first ever on-campus home night game.

The visiting Lancers got four touchdown passes from quarterback Jack Behl -- all in the first half -- as Lafayette found the end zone on each of its first five possessions to cruise to its second win of the season. Hazelwood Central, which won its opener over Miller Career Academy last week, fell to 1-1.

The Hawks, who are already suffering from a number of injuries which includes both its first- and second-string quarterbacks, were forced to start senior Alan Bright under center on Friday. Bright, a standout wide receiver by trade, hadn't played quarterback since middle school before the start of Friday's game.

And the rust of playing that position showed for Bright, as he had a number of fumbled snaps and handoffs, and had a couple of passes that either floated out of range or simply missed the target badly.

Even still, Bright was Central's best player on the night. He led the Hawks with 122 rushing yards and completed five passes for 62 yards. The Hawks had another pass in the game go for 51 yards, but it was called back for a penalty.

The troubled began early on for Central, when a fumbled handoff between Bright and running back Maurice Evans was recovered by Lafayette's defense and gave the ball to the Lancers on Central's 7-yard line, just two plays into the game.

Three plays later, Lafayette's Alex Behl caught a 4-yard touchdown pass to put the Lancers on the board.

Central went three-and-out on its next drive and elected to punt on fourth down. The booming kick went high into the sky, but didn't go very far downfield.

In fact, the kick only went 11 yards, so Lafayette took over on Central's 18-yard line. Three plays later, Jack Behl threw a 9-yard screen pass to Robby Preckel for a touchdown and the Lancers went up 14-0.

Central suffered the same problem on its next drive. The offense went three-and-out and the punt didn't go very far.

The kick only went 13 yards that time and Lafayette took over on Central's 31. It took eight plays on the third possession, but the Lancers scored again on a 7-yard pass to Preckel to go ahead 21-0.

Central got its first first down late in the first quarter and seemed to be finding some rhythm on offense, but a bad shotgun snap over Bright's head forced the Hawks into a long third down they were unable to convert.

Lafayette drove 51 yards on 10 plays to score on its next drive, which was capped by Preckel's third touchdown of the game -- a 2-yard run -- that put the Lancers up 28-0.

Central had its best drive of the first half on its next possession, which included a dazzling 21-yard run by Bright and an electric 32-yard catch and run by Ronald Cottle. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and the Hawks were stopped on fourth down when a pass from Bright to Cottle was knocked away by a Lafayette defender.

The Lancers put up perhaps their best play of the night on the next drive, when Jack Behl hit Brady Micek on a pass over the middle that turned into a 39-yard touchdown when Micek cut back on the Central defense and picked up a big block from Preckel that took out four defenders on one hit. With no one left to beat, Micek raced into the end zone to put Lafayette up 35-0.

That was the score at the half and remained the score for the rest of the game, as the MSHSAA running clock took over in the second half and neither team was able to score.

Cottle finished with three catches for 57 yards to help power Central's offense.

On defense, end Clifford Lee had three tackles for loss, including a quarterback sack, while cornerback Lonnie Banks had three tackles, a pass defensed, and an interception.

The Hawks will face a mighty test in their next game next Friday night. They'll be on the road to face the No. 9-ranked team in the area, Eureka High, in a game that will kick off at 7 p.m.

Central's next home game will be Thursday, September 19, when the Hawks will host Lindbergh High at 6 p.m.

2024 Hazelwood Central Hawks Football Schedule
Sept. 13 at Eureka -- 7 pm
Sept. 19 vs. Lindbergh -- 6 pm
Sept. 27 at Marquette -- 6:30 pm
Oct. 4 at Hazelwood West -- 6 pm
Oct. 11 vs. Pattonville -- 6 pm
Oct. 18 at Hazelwood East -- 6 pm
Oct. 24 vs. Kirkwood -- 6 pm